Assam team to visit Bangladesh for bringing back elephant

Guwahati, Aug 2: A team of Assam forest department will reach Bangladesh tomorrow to study how to bring back an elephant stranded in the neighbouring country after being washed away by the strong currents of the Brahmaputra river.

"They are going to Dhaka tomorrow where they will meet Bangladesh forest department officials and prepare a strategy to bring back the elephant," state Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (PCCF) Bikash Brahma told PTI.

The three-member team, comprising Goalpara DFO Md Suleman Uddin Choudhury, retired conservator of forests Rithesh Ch Bhattacharjee and veterinary professor Dr K K Sarma, will also undertake site visits to explore feasibility of bringing the jumbo back as it is under severe distress after losing contact with its herd.

"Bangladesh also wants us to take it back as it has damaged property there. It has to be tranquilised and then brought back in a truck," Project Elephant director R K Srivastava told PTI from Delhi.

The central government has already cleared the visit of the Assam forest team. The Bangladesh forest department is constantly tracking the movement of the stranded elephant.

On June 27 it was reported that a wild female elephant was separated from her herd in Assam and floated along with the currents of the Brahmaputra river from Dhubri district into the neighbouring Bangladesh.

In search of food, the pachyderm is now in conflict with villagers living in Kurigram and Jamalpur districts.

PTI